There are people in the movement who exist
solely to sabotage activists
-- from Negotiation Is Over (www.negotiationisover.com)

I have no time or inclination to consider all of the “what ifs” when I
decide to take action — within the movement or in life, in general. The
mentality that embraces potential obstacles rather than solutions is an
impediment to progress. I firmly believe in taking a stand and following
through on my own terms.

Here’s the problem: it’s well-known that there are industry-paid
plants within the movement that exist solely to discredit activists and further
marginalize animal rights. For those of us who refuse to be passive, quiet
and tolerant, our passion is a threat. Yet, our passion also
provides the mechanism by which a calculating
agent provocateur can manipulate any one of us. We all have a “sixth
sense”… something that tells us something is not right… and to dismiss this
survival instinct is sheer foolishness.

The Agent Provocateur

There are hallmark characteristics of the agent provocateur which include,
but are not limited to:

1) an individual appears suddenly with no known history – may possibly be
thrust into the national spotlight — and is embraced by the movement;
2) s/he takes increasingly-extreme positions;
3) s/he may try to incite people in their circle to engage in illegal activity.
Indeed, an activist’s commitment may be questioned and the party in question may
become abusive when we refuse to submit to the psychological manipulation;
4) s/he will actively attack other people in the movement and cause dissension
between leaders of different factions in the movement.

I want to share a few characteristics of which we all need to be aware. I’ve
always dismissed idiocy but now I recognize that there are behaviors that, while
individually may be taken in jest, when viewed as a whole create an extremely
troublesome pattern. These are serious issues and we never know exactly
with whom we’re dealing:

1-Criminal Activity : To the best of my
knowledge, the brave freedom fighters who carry out ALF raids do so with the
utmost preparation and security measures in place. These are not the
actions to which I refer. There are individuals that will encourage
an animal rights activist to get themselves arrested for the hell of it… to make
a name for themselves. Now, I generally laugh these things off.
They’re usually so asinine that, until recently, they didn’t even register on my
radar as anything other than ranting. I am no longer laughing.

These plans start out somewhat innocuously and may evolve into plans for
exterminating huge segments of the population. One such conspiracy that
was introduced over the summer: an attempt to rally me and at least two other
activists to poison the food supply. Some of us have written hypothetical
pieces essentially asking “what will it take for people to stop murdering
innocent animals so they can ingest their mutilated body parts?”.
None of us has ever seriously introduced the idea of a mass extermination of
humans. But the plot was nonetheless hatched in a hotel room and, while it
was dismissed as lunacy, I knew when I looked into this person’s eyes that
something was disingenuous. I do not believe these were the ravings of a
madman.

There may be activists out there at this very moment who are considering
doing things that are simply counter-productive and self-destructive. If
your heart is telling you that something is wrong, STOP and take a step back.
Before engaging, examine your motivation and be cautious.

2-Security Issues: There’s no question that
state oppression seeks to crush the animal rights movement. And our own
safety is paramount if we are to be effective activists. When we are
advised to do things that jeopardize us, STOP. Something is wrong.

If we have associates who refuse to engage on security issues and, in fact,
summarily dismiss them, this is a huge problem. My own arrogance about
refusing “to cower to the oppressor” (something I’ve always believed and
still maintain) seems to have left me open a little. I will not apologize
for waging a personal war against a heartless violent culture that embraces and
demands nonhuman genocide. It’s sickens me. It’s abhorrent.
And if I know of abuse, it is my job to expose it. I believe this.
That will not change.

However, when one supports these convictions with words, yet advises things
like “disclaimers make you look weak”… RED FLAG. No one who has our
best interest or that of the movement at heart would advise anything that would
jeopardize us.

3-Divide and Conquer: Anyone who reads this
blog knows that there is no question where I fall on certain issues. For
example, pacifism in the animal rights movement, as well as complacency and
apathy in general, are malignancies that need to be eradicated. But, when
one tries to deliberately create obstacles between friends and/or allies, we
need to STOP and examine what is going on.

When someone creates a situation and then makes impotent attempts to convince
us that someone else is to blame, this is a red flag. When someone
degrades our friends, thus trying to divide alliances, this is a problem.
Fortunately, my loyalties are not easily allayed. I hope others will not
let one friend/ally turn them against another.

In a broader sense, when different factions in the movement are in conflict
and debate, the agent provocateur may step forward to foster unproductive drama
and incite chaos. On this count I need to be somewhat specific.
There has been an ongoing fray between the pacifist abolitionist and the
militant abolitionist camps of the animal rights movement, led respectively by
Professor Gary Francione and Dr. Steven Best. At first it was shocking
that one of our own would turn on his allies and begin to supply the pacifist
camp with private information, even going so far as to sabotage the Negotiation
is Over website. Said individual is circulating malicious gossip to UTEP,
actively seeking to malign Dr. Best’s character and extinguish his career.
Simultaneously, this individual is now posting anti-violence/pacifist blogs and
pro-violence/militant entries with absolutely no grounding in one ideology or
the other. Although the method might appear to be madness, I believe it is
an injection of calculated chaos.

4-Self-Preservation: We know when someone is
not concerned with our well-being… when malicious actions are consistently
antithetical to friendly words, this is beyond a red flag… this is proof
that something is amiss. STOP and examine with whom you are allied. For
every activist that is silenced, the death industries win another battle.

But the war wages on and this is my wake-up call for every activist to
critically examine those with whom they are aligned. These are some of the more
glaring examples of my experience and, in retrospect, I think I came out fairly
unscathed. People have gone to prison or have been destroyed by these
tactics. Individually, each incident can be rationalized, discounted as
stupidity, or entirely dismissed. Taken as a whole, these behaviors
indicate a consistent pattern of sabotage.

Fran Trutt

Further, it is important to understand this in an historical context.
The case of
Fran Trutt provides a sobering example of how the behaviors I’ve highlighted
above may converge in the life of an activist to utterly damage the person and
discredit the movement as a whole. In
How Corporate Provocateurs Made Fran Trutt an “Animal Rights Terrorist”,
Will Potter examines the depths to which the death industry sadists will sink.
They will capitalize on any perceived weakness they can exploit.

Fran Trutt’s allies were actually agents paid by U.S. Surgical Corporation
(blood-money vivisection capitalists) to incite this woman to strike out against
the president of the company. It is recorded in the official record that
she would never have undertaken this course of action without consistent
encouragement from the agent provocateurs. Further, when Trutt had
misgivings about following through with the plot, she was encouraged and
urged to plant the bomb. Fran Trutt was nonetheless convicted of attempted
murder in 1988.

COINTELPRO

We all know that we may be under observation at protests. In terms of
the accounts of
feds infiltrating vegan potlucks, the significance eluded me. While I
don’t believe there is too much sensitive animal rights campaigning being
discussed at these events, these are ideal venues to befriend activists and
cultivate a friendship. And, clearly, informants need to gain access to
the inner circle for their treachery to command a pricetag.

Every environmental and animal rights activist needs to be familiar with the
FBI’s counter-intelligence program (COINTELPRO)
which was initially employed from 1958 through 1971 and understand that these
tactics have evolved and are at play throughout the movement:

The directives governing COINTELPRO were issued by FBI DirectorJ. Edgar Hoover, who ordered FBI agents to “expose, disrupt,
misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” the activities of these movements
and their leaders.[5][6]

Knowledge is power and in this case it is simply a matter of survival.
We need to understand the history and motivations of the deviant and soulless
infiltrators. We need to arm ourselves with information and understand the
Security Culture.

While I choose not to speak in terms of names, places and specifics (and at
some point I may need to write a book), I believe there are well-meaning animal
rights activists who see themselves in my words and will hopefully take heed.
Trust needs to be earned, not given away with a ribbon. Understand
that the corporate-state complex wants to destroy this movement and silence our
voices. When individuals get up on a stage behind a microphone and tout
uncompromising veganism while they wear leather boots and belts, this is a sign.
When people incite destructive and unproductive courses of action and
encourage dissent, if we dismiss them as misguided rather than cold and
treacherous, we do so at our own peril… and that of the nonhuman animals that
depend on us.